![]() ![]() Women would faint and gasp at his performances and would not stop at just that. Critics wrote in papers about how they broke into tears after returning from his concerts. Liszt was basically the equivalent of an 1800s-style pop icon, and he toured the world more than any other pianist before him. It seems to have been mostly a case of jealousy, as the public went crazy for the young and extremely talented musician. Needless to say, other generations of pianists and snooty members of the audience found it „distasteful” and tried to take away from Liszt’s genius. He even forged a new term for the need of his shows – are you familiar with the word 'recital’ as a music performance as well as its structure? Thank Liszt! If looks and talent weren’t enough, Liszt was one of the first to „break free.” Conscious of his superior skills, he prepared his concerts to show them off most spectacularly. Photo: Michael Nicholson / Corbis via Getty Images Photo: ullstein bild via Getty Images (right) Franz Lizst’s 1840 highly popular visit to London. (Left) Franz Liszt, composer, pianist, conductor, writer, Hungary – caricature 'In the concert hall’ – undated. Liszt was also an extremely handsome man, popular with the ladies (*he was particularly fond of married women, who, oh irony, were only the women he formed long-standing relationships with). Nature provided Liszt with much more than a brilliant mind and extraordinarily slim fingers, capable of striking notes ten tones apart without much effort. His efforts did pay off, and it was eventually difficult to find a match for his skills among the greatest of his contemporaries. ![]() In a later part of the letter, he remarked he practiced four to five hours a day and expressed his hope that should he not go mad, he would return to his friend a true artist. I study them, meditate on them, devour them with fury.” – Franz Liszt to Pierre Wolff, May 2, 1832, Paris, in Franz Liszt: Selected Letters, translated and edited by Adrian Williams (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 7. Homer, the Bible, Plato, Locke, Byron, Hugo, Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Beethoven, Bach, Hummel, Mozart, and Weber are all around me. In a letter written in May of 1832 to his friend, he said: „For the past fortnight, my mind and fingers have been working away like two lost spirits. Whenever proven his genius had boundaries, he worked twice as hard to overcome them. ![]() Regardless, Liszt learned from the best (Carl Czerny, Antonio Salieri) and made friends with the best ( Beethoven, Schubert, Debussy, Feliks Mendelssohn, Fryderyk Chopin). Interestingly, Liszt’s later skills, which he eagerly showed off, such as his ability to perfectly keep tempo, might not have been, were it not for this private tuition as opposed to traditional schooling methods. When rejected at the Paris Conservatory (due to his nationality), his father doubled down on his efforts to train his prodigy son. Although the Prince’s name did not go down very well in history, fortunately for Liszt, his performance was noticed by the critics, which set him on the path to a great career. There are many accounts of the successful performance Liszt gave at the age of nine at the court of Nicholas II, the Hungarian Prince Esterházy. Like many awe-inspiring pianists, Liszt showed talent from an early age, reportedly able to read and write notes at seven. Photo: Henri Lehmann, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons Photo: Franz Hanfstaengl, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons (Right) Portrait of Franz Liszt, 1839, oil on canvas. (Left) Composer and pianist Franz Liszt, 1858. Not to mention that his later compositions reflect Hungarian folk music, with the cultural heritage of his father’s homeland ever-present in his works. Despite some sources claiming Liszt did not speak Hungarian, he was a Hungarian citizen. From genius child to young virtuosoįranz Liszt was born in the Austro-Hungarian city of Raiding in 1811 (today’s Austria). But it’s high time that we look at a figure less known nowadays but one that deserves unfading recognition – a Hungarian addition to the iconic and expressive composers. ![]() Some of the first that come to mind are probably Mozart and Strauss. Austria undoubtedly possesses a showcase of amazing classical composers who were anything but boring. ![]()
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